Review of Part IIIAAA of the Defence Act
22 November 2024
On 14 November 2024, the Law Council lodged a written submission to the independent statutory review of Part IIIAAA of the Defence Act 1903 (Cth). Part IIIAAA contains provisions to enable the utilisation of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in assisting civilian authorities to protect Commonwealth interests and states and territories against domestic violence.
The Law Council’s submission acknowledges that while these ADF ‘call out’ powers have never been utilised in Australia, there are several areas where the measures could be more narrowly tailored to ensure that they may only be applied in emergency circumstances, with appropriate safeguards. In particular, the Law Council has emphasised that the exceptional circumstances in which the ADF can be deployed must be clearly defined in the primary legislation. Other key recommendations articulated by the Law Council include:
- the need to incorporate measures to ensure that ADF call out powers can only be engaged as a last resort;
- putting in place safeguards on compulsory questioning powers, including the presence of a lawyer during questioning and use and derivative use immunities;
- clarifying that the use of reasonable and necessary force must be materially connected with the protection of life and preventing serious bodily harm or to arrest a person found committing an offence; and
- legislative reforms to require post-incident review of the use of Part IIIAAA powers, including a strengthening of the role of Parliament and the Inspector General of the ADF.
The Independent Reviewer, Ms Sophie Callan SC, is due to provide her final report to the Minister by 20 December 2024.
Last Updated on 20/11/2024
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